U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday accused the sales manager of an embroidery company of conspiring to falsely claim that American flag patches sold for military uniforms were made in the United States.
Brian Moritz was charged with conspiracy to have a false certification made to the federal government that hid the fact that the patches actually were manufactured in Thailand. His Pennsylvania company, Moritz Embroidery Works Inc., won a contract in 2004 to sell 3 million to 7.2 million shoulder patches to the U.S. Defense Department at 22 cents each.
The Buy American Act prohibits the department from purchasing clothing that has not been produced in the United States. The criminal charge alleges the flags were outsourced to Sheen Ray Embroidery Co., of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Moritz company falsely certified that the patches were U.S.-made in order to collect payments under the contract, according to court papers. Moritz declined to comment Wednesday. |